


Say What?

by LittleSweetCheeks



Category: Madam Secretary
Genre: AU, Fun, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:28:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26718277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSweetCheeks/pseuds/LittleSweetCheeks
Summary: Elizabeth is in denial about being pregnant and the staff have to try and help without her knowing.
Relationships: Elizabeth McCord/Henry McCord
Comments: 10
Kudos: 32





	Say What?

**Author's Note:**

> I think this started as a prompt somewhere.

Nadine read along as she listened to Jay talk about an ongoing issue with a new terrorist group popping up in Northern Africa. It always felt like as soon as they wiped out one group, another sprung up to take their place. Checking her watch, she sighed to herself. The Secretary wasn’t in yet and she’d finally had to bring the meeting to order without her.

They were all just flipping the page when the doors slid open, revealing Blake and the Secretary. Nadine tracked her boss as she made her way to the sideboard along the far wall, picking through the treats laid out. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until Blake joined her and began filling a mug with coffee from the carafe. The Secretary recoiled, motioning for him to stop as her fingers touched her lips for a fleeting second. It was definitely unusual; her boss would mainline coffee some days if Blake allowed it. She guessed Blake felt the same way because as the Secretary headed for her seat empty handed, he tracked her movements and then gave Nadine a worried look before stepping out. When he returned five minutes later, it was with a mug of hot tea instead.

=MS=

Nadine looked up from her work to find Blake hovering worriedly in her doorway, an event that always alerted her that something was off. “Yes?’ She glanced his way over the top of her glasses.

He was frowning as he looked quickly along the hall before shutting the door and stepping forward. “I- I keep finding her asleep. I mean, she’s napped before when we’ve had really long days, but always on her couch and usually I know it’s coming and can plan accordingly but…” She watched him twist his hands together, a clear sign he was concerned. “I keep finding her asleep at her desk and it’s all the time.” She frowned as he continued. “I’ve had to start pre-checking to be sure she’s awake and aware before anyone can go in or I put a call through.”

Nadine sighed. “That is unusual.” She admitted it reluctantly. Normally their boss could run circles around the rest of the staff several times over, only finally crashing when the crisis was over.

“I thought maybe it was because she’s stopped drinking coffee, but tea has some caffeine so it’s not like she’s totally gone off it.”

That caught her attention. She knew about the incident in the conference room days earlier but had assumed it was a fluke. “When did she stop?”

“Um, sometime last week I noticed she wasn’t drinking it when I made it. Then the other day, well, you saw what I saw. I haven’t asked, but when I take in tea instead, she usually drinks that. I, um, I’ve tried to stick with herbal teas that are soothing in case it was just a matter of she’d been drinking too much coffee and it was irritating.”

“She’s asleep now?” She watched him nod. “I’ll keep my schedule flexible, if an appointment comes up and she’s asleep, call me and I’ll try and take it. We have been busy lately, maybe she’s just got too much on her desk.”

That she had something like a plan seemed to ease his mind. Over the next week, Nadine began to wonder if her boss was really okay because it seemed she was taking most of Elizabeth’s meetings every day.

=MS=

Nadine was split between two entirely different responses as she stood in Russell’s now silent office. On the one hand, the shellshocked look on her counterpart’s face as he tried to process what had just happened was worth writing home about. Very few things in the world could render the irritating little man utterly still and speechless. Very, very few things except, apparently, a woman unexpectedly bursting into tear and fleeing the room.

And that led her to the other response- deep concern. Her boss was the woman who had just fled, and Nadine found herself unsure what to do next.

The argument hadn’t been that out of the ordinary, not for Elizabeth and Russell, who had a well-documented history of battling out issues in sometimes loud and passionate ways. It seemed to be business as usual until Elizabeth had faltered, her voice catching and making Nadine pause and focus.

Looking around, she carefully put down her notepad and rose, smoothing her dress before making her way out of Russell’s office and down the hall in the direction of the restrooms. She had no idea what the hell was going on, but keeping her boss from not looking like she was losing it had become part of all their job descriptions years ago, so she was determined to figure it out. Tapping on the heavy wood, she called through. “Ma’am?” She concentrated on listening until she heard the lock click and the door eased open slightly. Using her slight body to block anyone’s view, she pulled the door open further, trying to get a look at her boss. “Everything okay?”

“My makeup’s a mess. I’m sorry, Nadine, I don’t know what the hell came over me back there.”

Steeling herself, she stepped in and locked the door behind her. “You should’ve seen Russell’s reaction, I’m not sure he’s regained speech yet.” Her comment earned her a wet laugh. “You go nonstop, it’s okay to lose it a little bit now and then. No matter what men think.”

“But I haven’t been going nonstop.” Nadine watched her dry her face. “I’m so exhausted all the time I keep falling asleep at my desk. Poor Blake looks worried all the time.”

She didn’t dare admit she knew that already. “It’s been a long time since you and Henry have taken time away, perhaps it’s time to schedule something.”

“Maybe.”

=MS=

She didn’t even realize how much their habits had changed until they totally changed again. Nadine had grown accustomed to Blake keeping the staff coffee in the breakroom or somewhere else that Elizabeth didn’t frequent, keeping tea on hand instead. Somewhere along the line the entire senior staff had realized on their own, or perhaps Blake in an attempt to cater to his boss had said something, to not bring their coffee into her office with them, and during meetings everyone seemed to have gone away from coffee as well.

She’d also adapted to Blake fitting naps into the schedule, proof she believed that Blake could organize and plan literally anything if needed. He’d arranged holes in Elizabeth’s day to allow her downtime, booked meetings longer to create less space, and generally tried to divert as much as he could.

They’d all gotten used to the emotional outbursts and had learned to anticipate a change in mood and clear her out before there was an incident. Nadine had been surprised that Jay and Matt had been particularly keen to the tiny changes that led to a bigger emotional outburst and the detail had seemed to adapt quickly to whatever the slowly devolving situation was, taking the staff’s lead on what felt like a daily hair trigger.

So, it was a startling switch when Elizabeth swept in one morning, at her old normal time before she started coming in much later every day, bright eyed and energized. She hadn’t taken any of the normal naps they’d grown accustomed to, leaving Blake beside himself in trying to provide her with a work schedule she used to be used to on such short notice.

When he turned up, looking exhausted, in her doorway at the end of the third such day, she was expecting him. “Nadine.”

“Sit.” She waited for him to collapse down.

“I don’t understand!” He grumbled. “Coffee was fine, no naps, no outbursts, it’s been like all that stuff was some sort of fever dream. Aside from the bathroom trips constantly, I would have thought I’d hallucinated the whole thing.” He sighed. “Tomorrow I have to get the stylist up here so that’ll at least take part of the day.”

Nadine was trying to keep up as he bounced around from topic to topic. “Why her?” The stylist was still a merely tolerated part of the Secretary’s staff and was often dealt with quietly by Blake and very rarely directly by Elizabeth.

“Oh. It’s nothing. The stuff I had in the closet is from last season, it’s been in there a while and when she wanted to change for the meeting today, she said the skirt was too tight. We’re coming up to all those holiday dinners and events, so I want to be sure the stylist has up to date measurements if they’ve changed.”

As long as she’d known Elizabeth, Nadine had known her to be slim and fit. Granted she tended to eat appallingly, but she tended to work out enough to counter it. But she had been sleeping more, so maybe she hadn’t been exercising. “Has Henry said anything to you about all this?”

“Um, I only know he’s been worried about her. I guess he’s seen the same things we have. I’ve spoken to him a few times and there’s always concern in his voice, but he’s not shared the details of that with me.”

“But he’s said nothing else?” She watched him shake his head. “What do you think?”

“About?”

“Do you think her measurements have changed?” If he was requesting the stylist come up, then he had to think so. Nadine could’ve seen Blake going into fashion in another life, he had an eye for form and style… and measurements.

She watched him swallow and shrug, he was always a small bit embarrassed about being able to work out someone’s size so accurately. A yes if she ever saw one.

“I might call Henry myself.” She dismissed him.

When he turned up the next afternoon to say the stylist had been and gone, it was with a frown that he shared he’d been right and was thankful he’d followed his gut because all the gowns for the winter season were going to need altered.

=MS=

They were in Paris, just she and Blake accompanying the Secretary. Really, it was supposed to be just her accompanying Elizabeth overseas, but as her moods and days again shifted unpredictably, Blake had come to her and had made a case for joining them and she’d relented, not really wanting to face Elizabeth’s unpredictable shifts on her own. The latest thing that seemed to be aging him beyond his years was the suspicion that Elizabeth was experiencing dizzy spells and given how much she was on her feet, and in towering heels, he’d anxiously taken to staying physically at her side with a hand on her at almost all times. Nadine had even heard the detail joke that he was putting them out of a job. She made her way to Blake’s side where he was waiting in the hall. “Everything okay?”

“Fine, I guess. She’s in the bathroom again. I don’t think flying helped her head any.”

“She still not admitting it?”

“No, but I can feel when she gets them because suddenly, I’m practically carrying her whole weight.”

She patted his arm. “You’re doing a good thing looking after her. The last thing the United States needs is for other countries to think she’s off her game.”

“I get that.” She watched him suddenly look nervous. “And that makes me want to ask something else. But I’m… it’s not really proper.”

“What is it?”

“Do you think she’s gained weight? It’s just, I swear she’s built different now.”

She blinked several times, trying to process that. Blake was never one to be improper about anything, but he was also probably the one with the most intimate knowledge of their boss of all of them. “I would suggest you not voice that again.”

“I know.” He nodded. “Jay jokingly asked me something last night on the phone.”

“What?”

“He asked if she was pregnant.” Blake chuckled. “I think he’s still in that new-parent fog and everything looks like something else.” His smile faded as he realized she wasn’t laughing as well. “What?”

“How long ago was it when she took that break from coffee?”

“Um, summer sometime? Why?”

“I’ll meet up with you later.” She patted his arm. “Stay with her and…do what you do.” She turned away and headed for a quiet place to make a call.

“Hello?” Henry answered.

“Henry, it’s Nadine.”

“Hi, how’s Paris?”

“It’s- it’s good.” She looked around to be sure no one was nearby. “I need to ask you a crazy question and… Please don’t think less of me….”

“You’re about to ask if Elizabeth’s pregnant.” She heard him sigh.

“How- how’d you know?”

“Because I’ve done this three times before. I’m sorry, I didn’t even think of it until a few weeks ago and she’s… I tried mentioning it, but she’s entirely in denial. I can’t even get her to go to a doctor.”

“I- I’m sorry.”

“Is she doing okay?” She could hear the concern Blake had mentioned.

“Blake’s staying at her side. Are you sure that’s what this is?”

“The coffee aversion should’ve been my first clue, but yeah. The sleeping, the mood swings, all of it, she’s been pretty consistent for all her pregnancies. Thought she’s never been in so much denial about it. Look, I’m sorry I didn’t say something sooner. I guess a part of me wanted to protect her, but I guess you guys are trying to protect her too.”

“Is there anything else we should know right now?”

“My best guess is she’s due in about March. She never got big with any of the kids, she just kind of got thicker and heavier. I don’t know if that’s going to be a good or bad thing.”

“If she isn’t obvious, then reporters might not pick up on it.”

“That’s probably for the best.” He agreed. “Especially if she’s refusing to admit it’s even happening.”

“Is there anything you want us to do?”

“Look after her, which I know you already do. I don’t know what the problem is, she was over the moon about the other three.”

“But that was a long time ago.” She thought back to when she found out about Roman. “If I got that news now, I would probably refuse to believe it too.” Nadine sighed. “There are a lot of concerns, Henry, because of her age.”

“And her job, yeah, I know. I don’t know what to do.”

“I think, as much as she will hate it, certain people need to know it’s happening. I’ll talk to Blake since he’s at her side permanently, but I’ll need to tell her detail as well.”

“I know.”

“I need to get back, but please, Henry, keep me in the loop. I can’t help you if I don’t know.”

“Of course. I’m sorry.”

Tucking her phone away, Nadine went in search of Elizabeth, stopping when she found them to really study her boss with fresh eyes. Seeing her anew, plus Henry’s comments. She pulled Blake aside at the next opportunity and whispered in his ear. “Talked to him. He said Jay is right and she’s refusing to admit it.”

“So, what do we do?” His eyes were wide.

“Anticipate every outcome.”

=MS=

It was so routine now that he didn’t even hover in her doorway anymore, just entered and took a seat. It was a twice daily thing at least; he’d turn up first thing in the morning and then would appear again as soon as the elevators closed at the end of the day. So far, they were the only two who knew anything official.

“How was the afternoon?” She asked to get him started. Nadine really did feel bad for the position Blake was in, but other than offer him as much support and advice as she could, there wasn’t a whole lot else she could do until either Henry or Elizabeth said something.

“It took eleven dresses, but she finally settled on one that we won’t have to worry about needing altered.” He’d pulled Nadine in that morning to look over what the stylist had sent up, the stylist still was in the dark about the problem they were facing. “Of course, she was in a mood the whole time about some of them not fitting and it took all I had to not try and point out the problem.”

“Not fitting? I thought we pulled the ones that might be tight.”

He blushed. “The uh, _upper_ bodices were much too tight on the green one and the purple one.”

“Ah. Yeah, I didn’t think about that.”

“She picked the light blue one for tomorrow night, but when I suggested hemming it to allow for lower heels, she shot that down. She’s going to need a three-inch heel for it.”

“Well, Henry confirmed for the event an hour ago, so it won’t be your worry this time. He can’t make the ones next week, though.” They had two events two nights in a row. “Something currently planned for work.” She watched him frown. “It’s almost the holidays, we just have a few weeks of these bigger events and then everything will calm down and who knows, maybe she’ll wrap her head around it and get on board.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” He clearly wasn’t holding out hope. “When do we tell her she’s grounded?”

She, too, was worried about upcoming international travel. “End of January.”

“That’s going to suck.”

Nadine had to agree.

=MS=

Nadine was starting to develop a sixth sense for when Blake was about to start freaking out. It ran like a chill up her spine and she turned to search him out, seeing instantly what the problem was. Elizabeth was chatting with someone with a glass of champaign in her hand. She’s assured him weeks ago that a small amount of alcohol wasn’t a big deal, especially at the amounts Elizabeth limited herself to at these events anyway, but he’d not been on board that it was okay.

Making her way around the tables, she tried to offer him a reassuring smile. It was yet another night where it was staff only and he was, as usual, doing his level best to keep an eye on everything. Part of his plan was to simply keep Elizabeth engaged in conversations as much as possible to prevent her from drinking and to hopefully get her to call it a night earlier. If she wore herself out, she’d beg off long before the night ended. “Everything okay?”

“I need a break.” He admitted. “I’m the one who’s utterly exhausted now.”

She looked him over properly. There were dark circles under his eyes, and he looked a shadow of his normal self. “Have you been sleeping?”

He scoffed. “I kept trying to read as much as I could so I could be helpful but now I can’t sleep at all and when I do I have these horrible nightmares of what could go wrong.”

Tugging his arm, she led him to a seat. “Sit down before you fall down. How long have you been doing this?”

“Weeks. Since you mentioned it in Paris. My job is to anticipate and prepare for everything, but this feels so…overwhelming.”

“Okay. I think it’s time to deal with this head on. Henry’s working, but I know just how to get him pulled off what he’s doing. You stay here, I’ll be back.”

“Yeah.” He sounded resigned.

Searching the crowd, she eventually found Russell and hauled him into a private room. “I need Henry pulled from whatever he’s doing for you. Now.”

“What? Why?”

“We have a situation that needs dealt with and he has to be in on it.”

“You have to give me more than that, Nadine.”

She huffed. “Elizabeth’s pregnant.” She watched his mouth open and close soundlessly. “Very, by Henry’s estimation. But she’s deeply in denial. We’re at the point where it’s dangerous and risky if she doesn’t snap out of whatever it is she is pretending is happening. I need Henry.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll pull him.” Russell relented. “Give me twenty.”

“Thank you.” She turned back to where the dinner was going on and found Blake. “Twenty minutes and we’ll go meet Henry.”

“What if she gets mad?”

“That’ll be up to him. You have been doing your best, but something needs to change.”

“Yeah.”

Nadine watched the time, and Blake, until twenty minutes had passed and then gestured for him to bring Elizabeth through to Russell’s office. She had no idea what excuse Blake had given, but Elizabeth was cooperative walking though the halls, until she went into the office to join Henry alone.

Russell shut the door quietly and then turned to the pair of them. “I talked to Henry. I don’t even know what to say.” He shook his head. “Other than you two deserve a raise for dealing with this as long as you have.” He gestured toward the shut door with one hand. “I’d offer you both a drink, but it’s in there with them.”

“That’s okay.” Nadine assured him. “We’ve been flying blind most of the time. We didn’t even find out what was really going on until a few weeks ago.”

Russell sighed, turning until he found where Blake had sunk into a chair and was leaned forward, his head in his hands. “You okay?” When he got no response, Russell walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. “Blake?” Despite his habit of intentionally antagonizing Bess’s assistant, Russell could appreciate the lengths he went to in order to do his job well.

After a beat, Blake looked up at him. “Sorry.”

“Why don’t you head out? Nadine and I can manage whatever fallout happens from all this.”

“No. I need to be here. My job is to be here.”

“Blake.” Nadine tried. She agreed with Russell.

“No!” It came out sharp. “No.” The second was at a normal volume. “I’m sorry. Just… I need to be here.”

“Okay.” It was her turn to reach out as she rubbed his other shoulder. “Then I guess we just have to wait and find out what’s going to happen next.”

=MS=

It was an hour before Henry opened the door to find the three of them still waiting. “I’m taking her home, but she wants to speak to the two of you first.” He indicated Nadine and Blake.

They rose and carefully entered Russell’s office. Elizabeth was curled into a chair, watching them apprehensively. Once the door clicked shut again, she spoke. “I wanted to tell the two of you that I’m sorry for everything I’ve put you through and thank you. I just- I guess I didn’t want it to be real, so I decided it wasn’t. So really, thank you. Especially you, Blake.” She drew a breath. “And now I have something else… I’m taking a few days off. I’ll be seeing a doctor and Henry’s worried about the dizzy spells. I don’t know what’s going to change yet.”

Once she went quiet, Nadine finally spoke. “I just want to say congratulations to you, Ma’am. And we’ll handle this however you want it handled.”

“Thank you, Nadine.”

Nadine looked at Blake, who wasn’t saying a word, before deciding that for tonight, the evening needed to be over. “Have a good night, Ma’am.”

=MS=

There was a nice calm that seemed to settle for the next month and a half. It was still secret, save for the immediate family, but now that the Secretary was at least being cooperative, keeping it that way was proving easy. Nadine thought it was nice to have some peace back and she enjoyed it.

As the weeks had worn on, Nadine had noticed that Blake had taken to finding more and more reasons to work from Elizabeth’s office. He was somehow a thousand times more attentive than he’d been before and she was putting money on him eventually driving their boss nuts.

Nadine swept into the office for a meeting one afternoon and took a seat. Blake was already there, per usual, and together the three of them starting reviewing. Talking about one line, she glanced over the top of her glasses at her boss only to catch Elizabeth making a small wince before shifting in her seat. The discussion carried on, but eventually it happened again and then Elizabeth excused herself to the bathroom.

“How is she, Blake?” She asked him in a low voice.

“She keeps saying she’s fine.” His tone said he didn’t agree.

“But?”

“But… I think she’s hurting or something.”

“I wondered that too.”

“I don’t even know what to say or do.”

“Nothing. Trust me, she doesn’t want the attention on how she’s feeling. I had false contractions for weeks before Roman was born and the last thing I wanted was to know that other people were aware of my misery.” She watched his brows shoot up. “Take your cues from her. If she’s carrying on like nothing is wrong, then you go about your work the same way.”

“Yeah. Right. I can do that.” He nodded, making her smirk.

“Can you?”

His eyes met hers. “Maybe?”

Her response was cut off by Elizabeth returning to her desk. Even now, dressed as she usually did, it was hard to even tell the other woman was pregnant. A tiny part of Nadine though about how unfair that was. Roman had been over nine pounds when he was born, and she’d had nowhere on her petite frame to hide that kind of weight. She’d felt like a beached whale for months. “Where were we?” Elizabeth asked.

“Top of the third page, Ma’am.” Nadine brought her focus back to the task at hand. By the time they finished everything that needed reviewed, she heard herself asking anyway. “Are you alright, Ma’am?”

“I’m fine.” She might’ve been more convincing if her words weren’t followed by a grimace.

“We have nothing pressing happening right now. Why don’t you lie on the couch and rest for a bit?”

“I said I’m fine, Nadine.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Nadine could see Blake staring at her now. Straightening her spine, Nadine pressed on. “You’re uncomfortable. Lie down for an hour or I let Henry know.” It was playing dirty, but technically she had agreed to call if there were any problems.

Elizabeth huffed. “Fine. But I’m still reviewing files.”

“That’s acceptable, Ma’am.” She waited for Elizabeth to move before beckoning for Blake to follow her to the doorway. “Stay in here with her. She gives you a hard time, let me know.” She shook her head. “In my opinion, she’s pushing herself too hard, but I wouldn’t win that argument, so there’s no point in trying.”

“I’ll make sure she listens.”

“Good.” Nadine returned to her own office. An hour and a half later, Blake was hovering in her doorway. “I have got to train you out of anxious hovering, Blake. You need a bit more confidence in you. I would hope by now you’re not still scared of me.”

“No, I- no. Not scared of you. Anymore. Mostly.” She curved one brow in amusement but said nothing as he stepped in fully and shut the door. “I might have been just, you know, generally looking things up online and-”

“What did I tell you about researching yourself into a panic?”

“I know! I swear, I wasn’t doing that-”

“It looks like you have.” When he didn’t just carry on after her second interruption, she waved for him to continue.

“She’s been lying down for over an hour and is it really true that the fake contractions should stop after she’s laying down? It says that a lot on the websites, but I’m not sure if it’s a most of the time thing or a sometimes thing or what.”

She nodded slowly. “Generally.”

He gave her a look of desperation.

“Blake, calm down. Is she still carrying on a conversation?”

“Yes.”

“Then she’s fine. Go find more things she can be doing while resting and curb her urge to overdo it. It’s only a few more weeks, Blake.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.” She watched him gather himself. “Speaking of a few weeks. Have you decided what you’re going to do while Cushing is stepping in?” Since he was Elizabeth’s personal assistant, generally a temp sat in as receptionist if the deputy secretary was in charge. “You have weeks of vacation time banked.”

He frowned. “I haven’t decided.” Nadine knew he didn’t like the deputy secretary. It seemed that Cushing still carried irritation about being passed over for Secretary of State and since he didn’t dare take it out on Elizabeth, he tended to take it out on Blake instead. “I really don’t like him, but I’d get so out of the loop being gone for weeks.”

“You really think we’d let you be out of the loop?”

“I suppose not.”

She chuckled. “Go do your job, Blake.”

“Right.” He rushed out.

One the door was shut again, Nadine pressed her lips together and lifted the handset of her phone, dialing now from memory. “Henry, Nadine. What was labor like for Elizabeth before?”

=MS=

Nadine had never in her life intentionally stalled for time to avoid doing something. Well, not that she’d cop to anyway. Checking her watch again, she told herself that unless Blake showed up in her doorway again, everything was fine, and the day was progressing as normal. She didn’t want to think too hard on the information Henry had imparted earlier.

When enough hours passed that she’d convinced herself she was now just being ridiculous, she finally stood and purposefully walked up the hall to Elizabeth’s office. _Just to check in_ , she told herself. She opened the door and let herself in, closing it behind her. On first observation, Nadine decided that she’d been right, nothing to see here and everything was fine. Elizabeth was still sitting on the couch, all the files from her desk had been moved and she was working as normal with her shoes kicked off and her feet on the table.

“Hey, Nadine.” Elizabeth greeted somewhat tiredly.

“Ma’am.” Nadine turned until she found Blake sitting at the small corner desk. In stark contract to Elizabeth, his jacket was off and tossed haphazardly over the back of the chair, his tie loosened and top button undone, and his sleeves pushed up. When he looked up at her, eyes like saucers and hair falling into cowlicks as if he’d been running his hands through it repeatedly. “Blake?”

He opened and closed his mouth several times before turning toward the couch with a look of almost fear before turning back to her. His voice was so soft she could barely make out his words. “I’m fine.”

She couldn’t take his look of distress any longer and opted to cross the room and dial the phone on the desk. “Henry? I think it’s time you come down and pick the Secretary up.” Elizabeth started to splutter denials, but Nadine silenced her with a look that said the discussion was over. “We’ll see you soon.” She ended the call and moved back to Blake. “Go. Go home, go take a walk, go somewhere.” He scurried away and she finally turned to Elizabeth. “Honest answers now. How far apart?”

Elizabeth instantly looked guilty. “Not very.” It wasn’t a real answer, but Nadine figured it still told her a lot.

“Henry will be here shortly.”

“Thank you.” Nadine watched her make a pained look. “I’m not ready.”

“Is anyone ever?”

“I guess not.” She sighed. “I need to apologize to Blake.”

“Yes, you do. I think you’ve aged him a decade through all this. But some good seats to a show might just do the trick in getting him through it.” She started to leave but turned back. “What was the plan here, anyway? To pretend you weren’t having a baby today until Blake had to deliver it?”

“Her.”

“Ma’am?”

“Deliver her.” The smile that graced her face this time was genuine. The first one Nadine had seen on her in relation to the pregnancy.

“Oh.” Nadine smiled. “I didn’t know.”

“Only Henry and I know. Knew. The kids wanted it to be a surprise.” She drew a breath. “And I promise it wouldn’t have come to that.”

“Wouldn’t it have?”

=MS=

Once Henry left with Elizabeth, Nadine located and dragged Blake into her office. She would quietly loop in the others as soon as it was official. She’d been working while Blake simply sat quietly for forty-five minutes before a message pinged on her computer. Reading, her eyes widened.

“What?”

“Um…” She looked at him and then back at the screen with a frown. “I received a message from Henry.”

“And she’s in labor?” The tone told her that that was about the scariest thing his mind could imagine, that she’d been in true labor all day.

“Well, not really. Not anymore. She’s had the baby… About fifteen minutes ago.”

She was almost certain he stopped breathing as his face paled. “I almost had to deliver her baby.” His eyes slowly came up to hers. “I think I’m going to take those weeks after all.”

He stood and darted out of her office as she watched. Lifting the phone once again, she called Henry to say congratulations. It had definitely been a most unusual year.


End file.
